STUGART SENSE

A colleague and I were talking/brainstorming/reflecting yesterday afternoon for quite a bit and the subject of empty praise vs constructive praise arose while discussing the difference between appreciation and understanding.

The consensus of our conversation was that while appreciation is desirable from one’s administration and peers, it is much better to have their understanding because to be truly appreciated means that you have been understood…that your efforts, motivations, intentions, goals, objectives, methods, etc. are known, supported, and will be reinforced by some form of structure (hopefully ).

(My personal little mini-take on this is that it is the job of all parties involved to make the understanding happen.)

Which brings us to the discussion of Empty Praise and Constructive Praise. Our conclusion was that Empty Praise is usually a sign that you are appreciated but not necessarily understood. While Empty Praise still feels good, it tends to be non-specific, like “You are doing a great job!” and “I am so delighted at the work you are doing, keep it up!”

Constructive Praise is usually a sign that you are both appreciated AND understood. It is more specific and demonstrates that the person giving it has noticed something in particular that you are doing well. The colleague with whom I was speaking is very good at giving this kind of praise and, as someone who is benefiting from it, I have developed a whole new respect for how important it is.

Upon consideration of my new understanding of the differences between Empty and Constructive Praise, I wonder at how well I, as a teacher, truly am at giving Constructive Praise to my students. Am I specific enough in my positive feedback?

We all know we are supposed to give our students positives…but how often do we take the time to be as specific as possible about them? My challenge to myself (and to all my faithful readers) is to really work next week at giving very specific feedback to our students…

Let me know how it goes!